Speight's

The brewery was established on Rattray Street, Central Dunedin in 1876 by James Speight, Charles Greenslade and William Dawson after they had left their positions at Wellpark Brewery (known today as the Tennent Caledonian). In 1880, Speight's won a gold medal at the Melbourne International Exhibition, giving rise to the Speight's Gold Medal Ale brand. By 1887 it had become the largest brewery in New Zealand, and had expanded to a sufficient size that it exported beer to Australia and the Pacific Islands. In 1923, Speight's merged with nine other breweries to form New Zealand Breweries—in the same year, founder William Dawson died. In 1960, New Zealand Breweries rebranded to Lucky Beer in an attempt to simplify the range, however this change lasted only two months before the Speight's brand name was re-established in October of that year. In 1977, New Zealand Breweries was purchased by Lion. In 2001, production expanded to the Lion brewery in Newmarket, Auckland. In 2026, Speight’s marked its 150th anniversary with a promotional competition in which 150 gold-coloured cans were distributed across its Summit Ultra and Gold Medal Ale ranges. Participants who found a qualifying can could enter a draw for a $150,000 NZD prize by submitting the can’s unique code through the promotion’s website. Speight's is one of the longest running commercial beer brands in New Zealand.

Brands

Speight's Gold Medal Ale is the brewery's best known beer. Though marketed as an ale, as it was in the past, it is actually a New Zealand Draught-style lager, brewed using lager yeast and lagering techniques.

In addition to its main Gold Medal Ale brand, Speight's also produces beers under the Speight's Summit and the Speight's Craft ranges of beer, the latter including the Speight's Old Dark, Speight's Distinction Ale, and Speight's Triple Hop Pilsner, all of which are lagers of varying colour.

Speight's range of beer is not gluten-free.

Speight's also produces an apple cider.